Appeal 2007-0916
Application 10/051,486
in varying configurations and color densities to achieve varying aesthetic
effects.37
Claim construction
Owens Corning has not directed us to any limitation requiring its
claims to produce any particular type of aesthetic impression. Thus, the
broadest reasonable construction of the claims extends far beyond any intent
to simulate wood shingles. The claimed shingles can have any appearance,
including a tiled, thatched, or abstract appearance. They are not limited to
looking like wooden shakes. The contested differences for the method
claims lie in the appearance of the resulting shingles.
"Printed matter" case law
Since the differences in this appeal lie in the positioning of shadow
lines and contrasting colored granules on a substrate, a review of “printed
matter” case law is apt. The most recent precedential decision from the
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on this topic is In re Ngai, 367 F.3d
1336, 70 USPQ2d 1862 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
In Ngai, the first eighteen claims were directed to methods for
normalizing and amplifying ribonucleic acids. These claims were allowed.
A nineteenth claim, which was drawn to a kit containing standard reagents
and instructions for performing the method of claim 1, was rejected under
35 U.S.C. .38 The court affirmed the rejection because the difference
between the claimed kit and a standard kit in the art lay in the content of the
37 Hannah, passim.
38 The rejection of a twentieth claim had been reversed by the Board.
8
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: September 9, 2013